WORLD HISTORY · 1950 日本語
Events of 1950Showa 25 (Japan) · Year of the Tiger
What happened in 1950?
In 1950, the Korean War broke out, and Japan promulgated the order creating the National Police Reserve. At home, an arsonist burned the Golden Pavilion temple in Kyoto and a major fire swept Atami, while in Europe the Schuman Declaration was issued.
- Sino-Soviet friendship and alliance treaty signedAsia
- Great fire sweeps Atami, ShizuokaAsia
- Schuman Declaration issuedEurope
- North Korea invades south, starting Korean WarAsia
- Arson destroys Kyoto's Golden PavilionAsia
- National Police Reserve order promulgatedAsia
- Nikkei Stock Average calculation beginsAsia
- UN forces retake Seoul after Inchon landingAsia
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
1950 at a glance
| Japanese era | Showa 25 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Tiger |
| Age of people born in 1950 | Turn 76 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 1949 (Showa 24) ／ 1951 (Showa 26) |
| Events | 92 |
| AP World History | Unit 8 (Cold War and Decolonization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 8 |
Famous people born in 1950
Our birthday pages list 725 people born in 1950. Here are some of them.
- Mark SpitzBorn February 10 · turns 76 this year · American swimmer who won seven gold medals, each in world-record time, at the 1…
- Peter GabrielBorn February 13 · turns 76 this year · English singer-songwriter, original frontman of Genesis, and solo star known fo…
- Julius ErvingBorn February 22 · turns 76 this year · American basketball Hall of Famer known as "Dr. J," famed for his soaring dunks…
- Jay LenoBorn April 28 · turns 76 this year · American comedian and longtime host of NBC's The Tonight Show, also known for h…
- Stevie WonderBorn May 13 · turns 76 this year · American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist behind Motown classics l…
- Steve WozniakBorn August 11 · turns 76 this year · American computer engineer who cofounded Apple with Steve Jobs and designed the…
- Bill MurrayBorn September 21 · turns 76 this year · American comedian and actor known for Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters, Ground…
- Nora RobertsBorn October 10 · turns 76 this year · American bestselling novelist who has written hundreds of romance novels and th…
- Tom PettyBorn October 20 · turns 76 this year · American rock singer-songwriter who led Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and wro…
- John CandyBorn October 31 · turns 76 this year · Canadian comic actor of SCTV fame who starred in Planes, Trains and Automobiles…
- Rebbie JacksonBorn May 29 · turns 76 this year
- Aki YashiroBorn August 29 · turns 76 this year
Show 28 more
- Karen CarpenterBorn March 2 · turns 76 this year
- Narendra ModiBorn September 17 · turns 76 this year
- Tony CurrieBorn January 1 · turns 76 this year
- Wayne BennettBorn January 1 · turns 76 this year
- Linda SteinerBorn January 3 · turns 76 this year
- Vesna VulovićBorn January 3 · turns 76 this year
- Victoria PrincipalBorn January 3 · turns 76 this year
- Khondakar Ashraf HossainBorn January 4 · turns 76 this year
- Chris SteinBorn January 5 · turns 76 this year
- Ioan P. CulianuBorn January 5 · turns 76 this year
- John ManleyBorn January 5 · turns 76 this year
- Peter Goldsmith, Baron GoldsmithBorn January 5 · turns 76 this year
- Louis FreehBorn January 6 · turns 76 this year
- Juan GabrielBorn January 7 · turns 76 this year
- Alec JeffreysBorn January 9 · turns 76 this year
- David JohansenBorn January 9 · turns 76 this year
- Bob McEwenBorn January 12 · turns 76 this year
- Dorrit MoussaieffBorn January 12 · turns 76 this year
- Göran LindbladBorn January 12 · turns 76 this year
- Randy JonesBorn January 12 · turns 76 this year
- Sheila Jackson LeeBorn January 12 · turns 76 this year
- Bob ForschBorn January 13 · turns 76 this year
- Clive BettsBorn January 13 · turns 76 this year
- Gholam Hossein MazloumiBorn January 13 · turns 76 this year
- Arthur Byron CoverBorn January 14 · turns 76 this year
- RambhadracharyaBorn January 14 · turns 76 this year
- Swen NaterBorn January 14 · turns 76 this year
- Marius TrésorBorn January 15 · turns 76 this year
Events of 1950 (timeline · 92)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
In the Sverdlovsk air disaster, all 19 of those on board are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.
British submarine HMS Truculent collides with an oil tanker in the Thames Estuary, killing 64 men.
The Great Brink's Robbery: Eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company's offices in Boston.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 79 relating to arms control is adopted.
The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as the first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
Second Red Scare: US Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.
Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.
The Llandow air disaster kills 80 people when the aircraft they are travelling in crashes near Sigingstone, Wales. At the time this was the world's deadliest air disaster.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "californium".
Robert Schuman presents the "Schuman Declaration", considered by some to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
The inaugural Formula One World Championship race takes place at Silverstone Circuit. The race was won by Giuseppe Farina, who would go on to become the inaugural champion that year.
A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
The St. Roch, the first ship to circumnavigate North America, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The Chinchaga fire ignites. By September, it would become the largest single fire on record in North America.
The Declaration of Conscience speech, by U.S. Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith, is delivered in response to Joseph R. McCarthy's speech at Wheeling, West Virginia.
Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.
An Air France Douglas DC-4 crashes near Bahrain International Airport, killing 46 people.
An Air France Douglas DC-4 crashes near Bahrain International Airport, killing 40 people. This came two days after another Air France DC-4 crashed in the same location.
Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating races.
Korean War: The Korean People's Army kills almost a thousand doctors, nurses, inpatient civilians and wounded soldiers in the Seoul National University Hospital massacre.
Korean War: Suspected communist sympathizers (between 60,000 and 200,000) are executed in the Bodo League massacre.
Korean War: Packed with its own refugees fleeing Seoul and leaving their 5th Division stranded, South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge in an attempt to slow North Korea's offensive. The city falls later that day.
Korean War: Task Force Smith: American and North Korean forces first clash, in the Battle of Osan.
The Knesset of Israel passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to the Land of Israel.
Uruguay beats hosts Brazil 2–1 to win the World Cup in a match dubbed as the Maracanazo.
Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.
After a month-long campaign, the majority of North Korea's Air Force was destroyed by anti-communist forces.
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station begins operations with the launch of a Bumper rocket.
Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.
Guam is organized as an unincorporated territory of the United States as the President Harry S. Truman signs the Guam Organic Act.
Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre: Seventy-five American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army.
Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800.
Korean War: Forty-two American prisoners of war are massacred by the Korean People's Army on a hill above Waegwan, South Korea.
Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium, is assassinated. The Party newspaper blames royalists and Rexists.
To avert a threatened strike during the Korean War, President Truman orders Secretary of the Army Frank Pace to seize control of the nation's railroads.
Korean War: British Commonwealth Forces Korea arrives to bolster the US presence.
"Nino" Farina becomes the first Formula One Drivers' champion after winning the 1950 Italian Grand Prix.
Darlington Raceway is the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the first 500-mile NASCAR race.
The People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps (Then known as the PLAAF 1st Ground Forces Brigade) is founded.
Korean War: U.S. Eighth Army and United Nations forces break out of the Pusan Perimeter in southeast Korea.
TV Tupi Difusora, the first television station to broadcast in Brazil, begins transmissions on Channel 3 in São Paulo.
Korean War: An attack by North Korean forces was repelled at the Battle of Nam River.
Korean War: The Battle of Hill 282 is the first US friendly-fire incident on British military personnel since World War II.
The eastern United States is covered by a thick haze from the Chinchaga fire in western Canada.
CBS's field-sequential color system for television is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Korean War: The Battle of Pyongyang ends in a United Nations victory. Hours later, the Chinese Army begins crossing the border into Korea.
Iran becomes the first country to accept technical assistance from the United States under the Point Four Program.
Korean War: Heavy fighting begins between British and Australian forces and North Koreans during the Battle of Yongju.
Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China: The People's Liberation Army ceases all military operations in Tibet, ending the Battle of Chamdo.
Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempt to assassinate US President Harry S. Truman at Blair House.
Air India Flight 245 crashes into Mont Blanc while on approach to Geneva Airport, killing all 48 people on board.
Korean War: British and Australian forces from the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade successfully halted the advancing Chinese 117th Division during the Battle of Pakchon.
Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown, while piloting an F-80 Shooting Star, shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history.
General Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, President of Venezuela, is assassinated in Caracas.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 89 relating to the Palestine Question is adopted.
Two Canadian National Railway trains collide in northeastern British Columbia in the Canoe River train crash; the death toll is 21, with 17 of them Canadian troops bound for Korea.
The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 impacts 22 American states, killing 353 people, injuring over 160, and causing US$66.7 million in damages (1950 dollars).
Korean War: Communist Chinese troops launch a massive counterattack (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of Chosin Reservoir) against United Nations and South Korean forces.
Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with a decisive Chinese victory and UN forces are completely expelled from North Korea.
Korean War: Associated Press photographer Max Desfor photographs hundreds of Korean refugees crossing a downed bridge in the Taedong River: 1951 Pulitzer Prize winner Flight of Refugees Across Wrecked Bridge in Korea.
Korean War: Jesse L. Brown (the 1st African-American Naval aviator) is killed in action during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Korean War: General Walton Walker dies in a jeep accident and is replaced by General Matthew Ridgway in the Eighth United States Army.
The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 1950 in the Japanese calendar?
1950 was Showa 25 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 1950?
1950 is the Year of the Tiger.
How old is someone born in 1950?
They turn 76 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 1950?
In 1950, the Korean War broke out, and Japan promulgated the order creating the National Police Reserve. At home, an arsonist burned the Golden Pavilion temple in Kyoto and a major fire swept Atami, while in Europe the Schuman Declaration was issued.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.